Kuumba bringing diversity to graphic design industry

Kuumba/koo-OOM-bah/noun: A Kwanzaa principle that means creativity that encourages people “to do always as much as we can, in the way that we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than it was when we inherited it.”

It is also the foundation Kuumba Community Arts was built on in 2013. Founded by Ensley native Deidre Clark, the organization was created to provide after-school art classes for youth. The idea morphed into the Teen Design Academy, an intensive graphic design program. Students between the ages of 14-17 learned about the fundamentals of design and project management as they created posters, book covers and other items for local businesses and nonprofits.

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Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@al.com

Although she’s not a graphic artist herself, Clark wanted to add a little more color to the industry. She saw a need for diversity while looking through websites of Birmingham’s design companies. As she scrolled through staff pictures, she was surprised to see that, in a predominately black city, none of the graphic artists were people of color.

She wasn’t the only one who thought the industry needed to become more diverse.

“We were in collaboration with people, who were not of color, who understood that historically, black and brown people have been kept out of the designing and advertising industry,” Clark said. “Then being brave enough to say that needs to change and want to be on board with that change.”

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Photo credit: Tamike Moore

Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@al.com

So Clark started recruiting students who were willing to learn the craft of design. Her main stop was her high school alma mater P.D. Jackson-Olin High School. However, she also attracted students from Ramsay High School, Wenonah High and a student from Pelham. From Tuscaloosa to Texas, clients from across the country and beyond were eager to see what the teens could do.

They worked on the projects three days a week, for two and a half hours each workshop. Clark was impressed by the first-time students’ ability to use an art form that’s so prevalent in society today.

“Graphic design is your T-shirt. It’s your favorite album cover. It's in the restaurant you frequently go to and it's on the menus of the restaurant that you frequently go to,” Clark said. “So as a designer, you potentially have the opportunity to design sneakers for Nike. Artists need album covers. People will forever need logos and advertisement materials. You have a myriad of things that you can do and that can lead you into other things.”

The next couple slides show examples of their work:

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Courtesy Kuumba

Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@al.com

A poster for the 2016 Birmingham art walk, an annual visual arts event that takes place in downtown Birmingham.

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Courtesy Kuumba

Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@al.com

Texas author Shannon Majure’s book “Wild Ones”. The book cover was designed by Kuumba.